


Manumission & Depravity

by Kikyo2022



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: A Lot Of This Is Just Pure Shameless Fluff, ACK I WROTE THEM TOO SOFT, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Dreamtale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Dusttale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Errortale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Horrortale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Human Pets, Alternate Universe - Something New, Alternate Universe - Underfresh (Undertale), Alternate Universe - X-tale (Undertale), Animal Instincts, Animal Traits, Animal Transformation, Attempt at Humor, Author Swears Quite A Bit As Well, Bara Sans (Undertale), Before Y'all Get Mad- Yes There Might Be Smut Later, But Only For The Reader, But She's Not A Monster Either?, But There's A Bit Of Angst Too, But he deserves it, Clueless Reader, Collars, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cussing, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Has Issues, Fast Burn For The Skeles, Female Reader, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fresh Is Here Though!, Fuck It I'm Writing Killer, Healthy Relationships, Human/Monster Romance, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I Have No Social Life So Conversations Are Probably Going To Feel Forced, Ink Is A Soulless Bastard, Is He Gonna Be Accurate? No. Do I Care? No., Just Be Happy He's Included, Keyword- LATER, Kinda?, Language Barrier, Love at First Sight, Master/Pet, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mostly By Axe, Multi, Nicknames, Nightmare Gang - Freeform, No Killer Sans Because I Have No Fucking Clue How To Write Him, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Oh God How Do I Write Dialogue?, Oh Yeah Did I Mention Heats Are A Thing?, Once Again What Did You Expect?, Platonic Soulmates, Polyamory, Possessive Behavior, Protectiveness, Rated Mature For Foul Language And Violence, Rating May Change, Reader Has A Set Species But Is Otherwise Left Up To You Appearance-wise, Reader Is Not A Human, Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader-Insert, Reverse Harem, Romantic Soulmates, Scent Marking, Scenting, Scents & Smells, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Sniff Snoff What's That Smell?, So Much Cuddling Omfg, Soulmates, Stars This Entire Tags Section Is A Mood XD, Swearing, Tags Contain Spoilers, The Author Regrets Nothing, They're The Bad Sanses What Did You Expect?, This Is What Happens When You Give Me Free Rein Of Tags, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Uhh... I'll Just Throw In Some Fight Scenes To Fix This, Undertale Skeletons in Heat, WTF IS KILLER'S AU? It doesn't show up on the internet, Way Too Many Tags, We Ain't Getting Hot And Heavy Right Off The Bat, Well They're Soulmates So Yeah, Wholesomeness, animal/human hybrids, because I said so, for plot reasons, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:34:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27030508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kikyo2022/pseuds/Kikyo2022
Summary: In your universe you were considered a petIn theirs you were considered an equalYour old owner treated you like a toyYour new ones treat you like a queenIn your world your life was prosecutedIn this world your life is protectedJust... What did your world have to offer you anymore?A Dark Sanses x Reader
Relationships: Axe/Reader, Bad Sanses/Reader, Cross/Reader, Dust/Reader, Dusttale Sans/Reader, Error Sans/Reader, Error/reader, Everyone/Reader, Fresh/reader, Killer Sans/Reader, Killer/Reader, Nightmare Gang/Reader, Nightmare sans/reader, Nightmare/Reader, Papyrus & Reader, Sans (Undertale)/Reader, Slight Dream Sans & Reader, Underfresh Sans/Reader, X-Tale Sans/Reader, horrortale sans/reader
Comments: 54
Kudos: 298





	1. Bones As Dark As Night

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Cold Currents](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25116076) by [JacketBones](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JacketBones/pseuds/JacketBones). 
  * Inspired by [One Cat Taken Care Of By Six Skeletons!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22968181) by [FanboilingWriter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanboilingWriter/pseuds/FanboilingWriter). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to re-state it since most people don't read all the tags (I don't blame you, there's A LOT):  
> The reader is female and has a set species but is otherwise left up to you. She is not human, nor monster and will be explained in a later chapter and as I go along. She has a tiny set appearance which I'm sure you can spot. 
> 
> Otherwise, feel free to imagine her however you like! ^^

The sound of something crashing jolted you awake, causing you to bang your head on the sheet of metal above you as you tried to sit up in your panic. 

You sunk back down with a whine as a dull pain began to blossom at the back of your head and you reached up with a paw to check for blood. 

It came away clean and you let out a sigh of relief.

You did not need to give the hounds an easier scent to pick up on.

You crawled forward just enough to stick your head out from beneath the metal square you were taking shelter under. 

Your ears flicked on your head as you took in a deep sniff in an attempt to identify the intruder via their scent.

Ugh, bad idea.

You immediately recoiled as the smell of rot and mold assaulted your nose. You had forgotten that the square above you was used to hold rotten food among other things until it could be taken away. 

You'd see a few humans put 'broken' things in it, but in reality, they were tossing out so much good stuff! 

If you could get past the smell, that is.

The cloth beneath you was a great example of that. Sure it had a few rips and holes in it, but that didn't make it useless. It was leagues better than laying on the grainy ground beneath it. 

And food! Stars, they threw out so much food. And most of it was perfectly edible! 

Humans were silly like that. Always tossing away things they didn't want anymore. Things like you...

You shook your head to clear away the dark thoughts and focus back on the present. 

You perked your ears as you strained to find any noise that could indicate the intruder was still nearby. 

You spent a few moments like this, head peeking out from beneath the square as you searched for any sou-

You snapped your head up at the faint sound of rustling, looking towards the large red and white building ahead of you. 

That alone was enough to send your mind in a tizzy. Humans never went in there... the opening was blocked off by bright black and yellow tape. 

You slowly crawled out from beneath the metal box, looking up at the second floor window. 

If it wasn't a human, then what could it be? 

You perked up a bit at a passing thought. Maybe it was another Kokunai? 

You stood and began making your way towards the structure. You hesitated, looking back and forth between your shelter and the opening ahead of you for a few moments. 

Your decision was made for you, however, as you heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps along with hushed voices. 

"You sure it's here?"

"Yeah, hounds tracked it to this block. It's an animal, Brock. Where's it gonna go?"

"Probably an alley or somethin..."

"Exactly. All we gotta do is find something that carries its scent and the dogs can do the rest."

Your eyes widened and you snapped your head towards the voices, a pair of shadows creeping into your line of vision. You gave a glance towards the metal box. 

Quickly determining that the chances of you reaching it undetected were slim, you headed inside. 

The moment you stepped in you had to suppress the insistent urge to sneeze, the dust hanging in the air tickling your nose as you kicked it up. 

You looked around at the empty space before moving further into the structure. 

This wasn't right. Too low, the crash had come from higher up. 

You poked your head into different rooms, continuing each time you found an empty one and only pausing for a second in the ones that weren't. 

Eventually, you found what you were looking for, a set of stairs leading up. 

You made a small noise of approval and began climbing, wincing each time the wood beneath you creaked. 

After a few moments, you arrived on the second floor and you heaved out a sigh of relief when the ground didn't groan beneath your weight.

With that little scare out of the way, you began eagerly searching rooms again. 

This floor wasn't as open as the first, the rooms were smaller and a lot of them were either locked or blocked off. 

That was fine. If you couldn't get in with a gentle shove then you'd just move on to the next one. 

You spent some time doing this, pushing against wooden doors and quickly investigating the ones that opened. 

Finally, you came across the room that overlooked the alley. You walked over to the window and looked down at your shelter. 

You briefly mused at how tiny it seemed from the change in height before a groan startled you away from the wall. 

You tensed, spinning around and frantically searching the room before your eyes landed on a multicolored heap in the corner. 

You held your position for a moment before you realized it was not getting up anytime soon. 

You let out a sigh and allowed your muscles to relax, shoulders slumping as you cautiously approached them. 

You accidentally kicked a bottle as you made your way over causing you to freeze as the figure let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like the machines humans had that produced colored paper.

You resumed your approach when they fell silent, sinking down to your knees when you reached them. 

You raised your front paws and gently nudged them, pulling back when the tingle of static ran up your arms and their entire body seemed to glitch, wavering in and out of focus for a moment. 

You blinked at this strange behavior and placed your paws back on them, pushing harder and rolling them over onto their back. 

You sucked in a breath and pulled away immediately as you registered the person in front of you.

It was a skeleton. You knew this because you had seen many occasions where humans had been bitten by their pets, the skin punctured by sharp teeth and revealing the bright, brittle bone beneath. 

By this logic, you knew you must have one too, even if you've never seen it. 

However, there was something different about this skeleton. Not only was it making noise (which you were almost certain it wasn't supposed to) but it was the wrong color too.

It was dark. So, so much darker than the bone you're accustomed to. It was similar to the alley when the sky darkened and the clouds blocked out the moon, plunging everything into an unseeable night. 

But that wasn't the only thing wrong with it. You were pretty sure skeletons weren't supposed to cry, but the tear tracks on their face suggested otherwise. 

You raised a paw to try and wipe them off, only to find they were soft little strings that seemed to run from their eyes? Could you even call those eyes? 

Its sockets were squeezed shut and it had an almost pained expression on its face. Its teeth were yellow and positioned in a way that made it look like it had a mouth, albeit one pulled into a grimace.

You sat back on your heels to take in the rest of their appearance.

His clothes were long and dark, the fabric the same color as his bones with markings similarly colored to their teeth and strings where their hands would poke through. 

They had a shirt underneath it that looked to be made from the same soft material you had seen on your sheep-like friend back in the day. Its color was similar to blood but much brighter, red if you recalled correctly. 

They also had a long strip of sky-colored fabric wrapped around their neck. 

You looked down at their legs and noticed a pair of shorts the color of his bones and they had sky-colored strips decorating the sides. 

They also had something on the bottom of their feet similarly colored to his bones with yellow strips securing them to his feet. 

You glanced at their hands and saw that they alternated between red and yellow. 

You lifted a paw to gently set it on one of theirs and found that their hands were much larger than yours. 

Not much of a surprise, nearly everyone here was bigger than you.

You were utterly fascinated by this creature. A skeleton that wasn't a skeleton? You didn't know something like this could exist! 

It certainly wasn't human, it was shaped all wrong and you were pretty sure it was breathing if the rise and fall of their chest was any indication. 

And it definitely wasn't a Kokunai like you'd thought. Your kind looked like humans, just with animal parts. So that only left...

You pulled back at the sudden realization. Oh no, no, no, no. Monsters were just as bad as humans! 

Sure, they were kinder than the humans but they caved to money and power just as easily. They could be convinced to do bad things if you just played it off as something good.

You'd seen it in action plenty of times before...

You shuffled backward, fully intending to go and leave them here when a loud rumbling shook the area. Your eyes widened and your tail shot between your legs as the vibrations coursed through your body. 

Panic began to set in and you stood on wobbly legs, ears pinned to your head as you tried to determine what was going on.

You were knocked forward as something hit the building, letting out a horrific screech as the two collided. You pushed yourself up on your elbows as you looked around for the exit. 

You began to crawl towards the opening when a soft groan caught your attention.

You froze, looking back at the monster as they began to twitch. You stayed there for a moment, looking back and forth between them and your escape before you slowly inched back towards them. 

You tried pushing at them again, trying to make them wake up but the only response you got was a low wheeze and a few symbols popping up around their body. 

You let out a yelp as the structure was hit again and decided to just drag them out. You looped your arms under their pits and clasped them together. 

You took a second to gather your breath and plant your feet before you heaved backward. 

Were skeletons supposed to be this heavy?

You would have thought they'd be lighter. 

You let out a strained huff and continued to tug them back, slowly but surely making your way towards the entrance. 

You manage to drag them out into the hall before the building shakes again, landing you on your ass and making you lift your arms to protect your face from the debris. 

You scramble back up and link your arms under their armpits again, hefting them up and holding them as far off the ground as possible as you try to descend to the floor below. 

You lean against the wall as you step sideways down each small decline, pulling them with you and letting out a wheeze of relief as you make it to the bottom. 

The place shutters again and you heard something crash upstairs. Your arms were sore from the unnatural amount of weight they've been supporting and you have to drop the skeleton. 

You only take a few moments to pant before you drop down to all fours, grab the back of their clothing by your teeth, and begin to drag them out that way. 

It still sucks, and your arms are still throbbing but it's a bit easier to move them when you can use your entire body to lug the weight. 

You huff through your nose as you pull them along, letting out a pitiful whine as their clothing gets stuck in the doorway. 

Your desperation increases as the place shakes again and you feel bits of rock land on you. 

You give a few more frantic tugs and something rips, freeing them and making the both of you tumble backward out into the alleyway. 

You open your mouth and release the fabric, panting heavily as you close your eyes and lay motionless on your back. 

You cracked open your eyes in time to see a tall machine with a big ball at the end of it slam into the building. 

You let out a low growl and bit down on the skeleton's clothes again, turning onto your stomach and dragging them a bit further from the scene before you collapse.

You concentrate on pulling air into your lungs, too distracted to pay attention to the voices above you. 

"Oh dam- Brock, get over ere dude! Think I found it!"

Your ears twitch at the sound of footsteps on a crunchy surface. Gravel.

"This is the little shit we've been hunting? Thought they said it was a dog?"

You let out a whimper as something loud snapped by your ear, causing you to flinch and curl in on yourself.

"I mean, under all the dirt and shit it could be a dog? Doesn't matter anyways. We take it back to the shelter, we get paid."

"What's gonna happen to it there?"

You felt the air around you shift as someone tugged the skeletons shirt out of your mouth and pulled you back.

"Who cares? It'll probably get put down or some shit." 

A sharp pain shot through your arms as you were hoisted up by your armpits. You yelped and managed to force your eyes open as you were lifted.

You blinked a few times, clearing your eyes before focusing on the human face in front of you. You felt your eyes widen and ears pin to your head in terror.

He sneered at your expression before adjusting his hold on you and walking forwards. You managed to snap out of your panic as the sound of a car starting sounded out.

You began to squirm, kicking out your feet in an attempt to hit him. 

"Shit, fuck. Brock get your ass over here and grab her feet."

"How do you know it's a she?"

You felt his body rumble as he adjusted his hold on you again, arm brushing against your chest as you struggled.

"Heh, she's got tits, bro."

You started hyperventilating as another pair of hands grabbed your feet. A monster, if the thick coating of fur was any indication.

Your chest heaved and tears began running down your face as you fought in vain. You felt your very SOUL tremble as you cried. 

_'I don't want wanna die...'_

The air around you shifted again, a heavy feeling sinking into your bones as the space around you became charged with agitated magic. 

You started at the feeling of something wrapping around your waist. 

"H-HUH?!"

You gasped as that something pulled taught, ripping you from the men's grip and holding you in the air. Your paws flew to your waist, brushing against something soft but firm as you held your mid-section. 

You glanced down to find brightly colored strings wrapped around your stomach and you winced as they tightened around you, digging into your skin. They loosened almost immediately as if they had sensed your pain.

You looked over, following the trail of color until your eyes landed on the skeleton, your eyes meeting theirs. They held your gaze for a moment before turning away, a scowl forming on their face as they looked at your abductors.

"N0t 0nly d0 I g3t w0ken up by y0ur n4sal1y 4s5 v0ic3s, bu7 I'm 4ching a1l 0ver, pret7y 5ure I'v3 g0t a c0ncussi0n, 4nd a5 y0u c4n pr0bably te1l-" He let out a dark chuckle. "N0t in a p4r7icul4r1y go0d m0od."

You blinked. Their voice was deep and sounded much like the TV when your owner forgot to "switch the channel" as he called it. 

He, and you were certain this was a he now, glanced at you out of the corner of his eye before focusing back on the two men.

"N0w, I'm n0t c0mpl3te1y 5ure 0f wh4t'5 g0ing 0n h3re, bu7 I be1iev3 y0u'v3 t0uch3d s0m3thing 0f min3. 4nd I'm no7 kn0wn f0r 5h4ring."

A sick grin crawled up his face as he lifted his hand to the strings under his eyes. He tugged and a section of strings wrapped around his hand, shooting out to wind around the human, who had been slowly inching towards the van. His monster companion, a bear if you weren't mistaken, frozen in place beside him. 

The skeleton chuckled as the man squirmed and screamed in his grip, a group of threads diverting to wrap around his throat and silence him. The scene was making you uneasy, a pit of dread opening up in your stomach as you watched. 

Your ears pinned against your head and tail tucked between your legs as a pair of dark, canine-like skulls appeared, floating beside him. Their mouths opened, a bright, scorching light building up inside their jaws as they locked their attention on the two perpetrators. 

You let out a soft whine as the smell of ozone bled into the air and you hunched in on yourself, determined not to look until this was over. 

Everything went silent for a second before the skeleton made a small sound.

"7ch..."

You flinched as the strings tightened around you, pulling you close to the skeleton before adjusting their hold on you. 

Some of the strings stayed around your waist while others wrapped around your wrists, holding them together. A small amount of them wrapped loosely around your neck, preventing you from looking away as he approached.

He stopped about a foot away from your person and your gaze immediately fell to his feet. At this point, you were assuming that this monster was an alpha, and you had no desire to upset him by making eye contact. 

You felt his eyes on you for a few minutes before he sighed, strings releasing your neck and hoisting you higher into the air. 

You raised your eyes as he began speaking again, glancing over at him as he talked. 

"Righ7. 5inc3 th3 li77le pUp h3re c4n't se3m t0 st0m4ch 4 5imp1e pUni5hm3n7, I'1l l3t y0u g0." The skulls closed their mouthes before disappearing along with the strings holding up the human, causing him to fall to the ground with a shout.

"D0n'7 7hiNk 7hi5 i5 0v3r p4l... I'1l b3 b4ck. 7hi5 AU i5 fu1l 0f dir7y g1i7ch3s 1ik3 y0u." Your eyes widened as the colorful lights in his sockets vanished, making his grin seem all the more unnerving. 

"4nd I in7eNd t0 er4s3 Ev3ry. L4st. On3."

You had no idea what he said but his words seemed to spook the Animal Control officers, sending them running, the van forgotten. 

You look at the van for a moment, questioning whether or not they were coming back for it before looking away, jolting when you came face to face with the skeleton. 

The two of you locked eyes for a second before you averted yours, ears perking up as he made a noise in the back of his throat.

...Did skeletons have a throat? Was that a thing? 

As you were pondering this new discovery the skeleton moved, dragging you with him as he went to pick up a piece of paper the human had dropped before running off.

He examined it for a bit, turning it back and forth before stuffing it into his pocket and turning to you. 

"H3h. Y0u'v3 r3al1y g0t m3 iN 4 me5s h3re gir1y."

You tilted your head. He was talking... Talking to you? 

Humans seemed to do that all the time, randomly babbling at their pets and not really expecting a response. But he was looking at you like he wanted you to respond. 

You blinked at him before letting out a small huff in hopes that it would satisfy him. He squinted at you, mouth curling up into a small smile as he silently chuckled. 

"T4lkinG d0esn'7 se3m t0 b3 y0ur s7r0ng 5uit hUh?"

Another slow blink. This time you yipped and your eyes widened as the colorful lights in is sockets expanded, taking up most of the available space. 

You leaned forward to get a better look but were abruptly pulled away. You let out a confused whine as he started talking again.

"H3h, l3t'5 re5p3ct 7he fiv3-fo0t ru1e bUd. N0thiNg p3rs0n4l, I c4n a5sur3 y0u."

You hummed, not really understanding but still wanting to give him validation as you looked down and kicked your legs. Communication was certainly lacking, but you were fully enjoying the weightlessness this skeleton was allowing you to experience. 

The two of you were silent for a while, you happily conquering gravity and he tapping away on a glowy rectangle.

Eventually, he pocketed the device and the strings squeezed around your waist, pulling you close to him again. 

"MiGh7 w4n7 t0 c1o5e y0ur 3ye5 f0r thi5 li7tle3 pUp."

When you just stared at him blankly he sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"...RiGh7. Y0u d0n't7 und3rs7aNd a 7hiNg I'm s4yiNg d0 y0u?"

You exhaled heavily through your nose. You could tell that he was getting frustrated. 

"UgH... W3ll, 7hi5 i5 g0ing t0 b3 a 5h0ck t0 y0ur sy5t3m."

He touched his hand to his eye again and more strings wrapped around you, making an almost cacoon-like space.

"Ju5t... TrY n0t t0 7hr0w Up. AnD iF y0u d0, m4ke 5ure t0 d0 i7 4w4y fr0m m3."

You squirmed a bit, a pout falling on your face as you realized you were stuck. 

You looked up, intent on getting your curiosity across before the world suddenly began to shift. 

You let out a surprised gasp as the air was sucked from your lungs and everything became almost suffocating. Darkness surrounded the two of you and it almost felt as though you were falling.

With all the overwhelming stimulation-

It's no wonder you pass out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do I make her unable to understand everyday things without making it seem forced?  
> Reader: Hi! I live under a metal box with trash in it.  
> Perfect. Easy to decipher.  
> Also Reader: Ah yes... he has black squares with yellow strips on his feet.  
> ...Fuck. That's real descriptive.
> 
> Twas a pair of sandels btw.
> 
> Taking this moment to point out that I have the first 2-3 chapters planned out before I just begin doing whatever. I have a small plot arc in mind but am otherwise just winging it.
> 
> So I guess what I'm saying is: Comment what you want to see! It can be anywhere from an elaborate plot idea to just a cute little tidbit you'd like to see in a chapter. I work best when I'm inspired! And a lot of that comes from random ideas people throw at me. So throw away!


	2. Dusty Clothes And Flashes Of Color

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tiniest bit of insight into readers AU and even more skeletons!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit this blew up! Bruh there's one chapter why? ;-;
> 
> I wrote this for you instead of fleshing out the new chapter for my main fic. I hope you're happy you fiends! XD  
> *I know I am, this is fun!
> 
> In other news, I really need a beta reader. Re-reading your own fic gets tiring really fast >.>

He slumped into the chair with a sigh of relief, running his hands across his face as he peered at the sleeping lump in his bed.

Through the wooden door, he could hear the argument going on between the other inhabitants of Nightmare's castle and he groaned. 

Sure, it wasn't his _brightest_ idea to bring you here, but at least there was a room set up and he highly doubted you'd be able to survive in the anti-void. 

He hadn't meant to fall into your AU, but in his haste to escape his battle with Ink he had messed up his shortcut and ended up in a universe with similar coding to the one he'd been trying to port to. 

The mistake wasn't all bad he supposed. He looked over at you, passed out and completely unaware of the chaos outside, and sighed. 

He never thought he had a Soulmate, let alone one he'd find in a random AU that he knew nothing about. 

But the tug of his SOUL was undeniable. You were his just as much as he was yours.

A particularly loud crash sounded out in the hall causing him to jump and you to bury yourself further in the sheets.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, grumbling unhappily. He blinked as his hand brushed against something and he slowly pulled it out. 

He looked down at the little pamphlet in his hands, surveying the black and white picture of Mt. Ebbot.

_'That's right. One of the glitches in that world dropped this...'_

The entire packet was about eight pages in length and seemed to be one of those adoption brochures people placed at the front desk of their store.

He skimmed over the title for a second before he looked back up at you.

He hesitated a minute but ultimately decided it wouldn't _hurt_ to read the leaflet, settling down into the chair as he began to look over the front page.

_Thousands of years after The Great Human-Monster War, monsters have re-emerged from the depths of the mountain. However, their freedom came with a price: The force of the barrier breaking created a shockwave of magic to flood across the surface changing our world as we know it, forever._

_Now, as we all know: Humans have always been out of tune with their SOULs. However, we were severely unprepared to find out just how much so._

_The newly released magic flooded into the Human's SOULs permanently changing them into something more... Instinctual._

_Luckily, not everyone was affected. Their position to the mountain made all the difference._

_Those unlucky enough to be in the immediate vicinity had the most drastic change, both physically and mentally. Their SOULs were overwhelmed by the magic they absorbed. Their bodies forcibly changed as they tried to regulate the new influx of magic, resulting in animalistic beasts driven solely by instinct. We call this group the "Ferals", for their aggressive nature and resemblance to animal kind._

_The quickest way to identify a Feral is by its appearance. They take on an animalistic appearance, with a more drastic twist. They can have extra limbs (like tails or horns), unnatural colors, or might resemble a larger or more deranged version of the animal they are supposed to imitate. If you come across a member of this group, please contact the Royal Guard immediately! They are dangerous and must be kept away from society._

_The second group wasn't as close to the barrier, but still close enough to suffer some consequences. Their SOULs absorbed a large amount of magic as well but didn't become corrupted by it. We named this group the "Kokunai" or the "Domestics" for their "cute" appearances and animal-like mindsets. This group is much tamer than their predecessors and takes on a more Humanoid appearance with animal features thrown in the mix._

_The quickest way to identify a Kokunai is also by its appearance! Most of this group are bi-pedal and Humanoid with animal features such as ears and tails. They can also have extra fur, paws instead of hands/feet, horns, fins, scales or gills. This group quickly became domesticated due to their inability to care for themselves, resulting in the newest global trend!_

_The final and largest group of Humans were far enough away to only receive minimal changes. Unlike the other groups, these Human's SOULs barely absorbed any magic, resulting in no appearance changes or memory wipe. Their SOULs were opened up to the world around them, allowing them to sense magic and intent, much like the Monsters can! We named this group the "Enlightened" but they tend to just go by "Humans"._

There was a history lesson on the front. Not a great choice to start off an adoption pamphlet. 

Well, it gave him some insight into your AU so it wasn't terrible. He hadn't had the chance to check your world's code before he fled the scene, so it was a welcome relief to gain some information about you.

He flipped the pamphlet in his hand to look at the back. There was a picture of a cheery little shop along with some text below the image.

_If you’d like to adopt a Kokunai or volunteer at the shelter, please come visit us on East Street, three blocks North of Muffet's Spider Bakery. We look forward to meeting you!_

_Pamphlet wrote and organized by:_

_Dakota and Loki Hart_

_Co-Owners of Hart-felt Adoption Center_

There was a star's damned pun in the name. 

Of course.

He looked through the booklet for a few minutes, skimming through the pages before a loud slam broke him out of his thoughts. 

He blinked, pocketing the pamphlet before turning to look at the door with a scowl.

At this rate, the gang was going to wake you up. 

He sighed, pausing to glance over at the bed and your still sleeping form before opening the door, closing it as soon as he stepped outside.

He placed a hand over his SOUL, which was already buzzing at the thought of leaving you alone in a house full of murderers. 

But then again...

He let loose a short growl as something banged into the wall. 

He's _pretty_ sure you wouldn't mind if he had to slip out to deal with the "children" of the group.

Right?

...

Right.  
  
  


* * *

Ugh, your head hurt.

Why did it hurt?

Fuck... who cared as long as it would just _stop_. 

You whined into a pillow, curling around it in your despair. 

...Wait.

Why was there a pillow?

You groggily blinked your eyes open, staring completely dumbfounded at the item in question before turning to look around the room. 

You were on a bed, that much was obvious, but where the bed was located was the problem. 

You sat up, blankets pooling around your waist as you looked around with a small frown on your face.

The room was dark, the outline of several pieces of furniture just barely visible throughout the place.

The smell of stone and dust hung heavy in the air, so you could safely assume this wasn't a very lived-in space. 

The thought gave you courage as you shuffled out of the blanket pile and crawled over to the foot of the bed.

You paused when the scent changed, melted chocolate and pomegranate permeating through the area.

You sniffed around a bit, the scent mostly clinging to a nearby chair and lightly floating around the surrounding space.

You were... puzzled, to say the least. 

Scent signatures were common, yes, but you had never encountered one that smelt like food...

Welp, whatever it was obviously wasn't here anymore so you didn't see a reason to be alarmed.

You swung your legs over the side of the bed and scooched forward so that your feet just grazed the floor, determined to explore the tiny space you were in.

You glanced nervously at the doorway for a moment, half expecting some human to come bursting in the moment you got up, before slowly rising to your feet.

You stood facing the door for a few minutes, watching for any sign of movement before letting out a sigh of relief when nothing happened. 

You spun in a little circle, eyes darting around the room before you started exploring.

And explore you did.

You had a heyday going through this person's stuff, pulling books off the shelves (and putting them back, you're not a _savage_ ) examining the tiny trinkets on the desk, and crawling around in the closet as well. 

In the end, you didn't manage to find much. The trinkets were dusty and even the closet was nearly desolate of clothing.

The whole room was practically baren. Nothing in it held a scent signature except for the chair and even _that_ was faint.

You huffed through your nose.

Everything absorbed the scent of a person when they touched it and yet nothing in the space seemed to hold the scent of their owner.

It was like this room hadn't been lived in for months.

Maybe ever.

While you were mulling over being left in an abandoned room, a quiet thumping sound reached your ears.

You froze, ears perked and swiveling as you listened.

Another thump followed by muffled words had you turning towards the door.

Your eyes widened as the knob jiggled and you retreated into the closet, burrowing into the only pile of clothes as you watched the door open.

Light poured in from the crack, illuminating the room as a silhouette stepped inside.

You blinked at the skeletal figure as it sauntered in, mismatched eye lights raking over the room in what you assumed to be boredom. 

After their initial scan, they started walking around, stopping to pick things up or look underneath the furniture.

This went on for a few minutes, the skeleton moving things around while you silently wondered to yourself why they were trashing the room.

It wasn't until the skeleton started peeking under the bed that realization sunk in.

It was looking for you. 

You shuffled back a bit, hoping to conceal yourself better from the prying eyes of the monster, but any hope you had gained from that plan was dashed as you knocked into something glass towards the back of the closet. 

You locked up, eyes snapping to the skeleton who was now intently staring in your direction. 

You couldn't breathe as the skeleton tilted it's head before you let out a squeak when it was suddenly crouching at the closet door.

The need for stealth was gone and you shoved yourself up before attempting to dart past your pursuer.

Keyword: Attempt.

You barely made it out the door before you were slammed onto your chest, wheezing as the wind got knocked out of you. 

You were overly conscious of the hand on your back holding you down and after several failed attempts to get back up, you resolved to just lay limp under the skeleton's hold. 

Eventually, it seemed to take notice of your compliance as it let up with a bit of the pressure. You squirmed a bit, a silent plea to be let up.

The skeleton eventually let go and you went to stand only to be grabbed under your shoulders and held up to a pair of piercing, mismatched lights.

You whined as the smell of dust and old books settled over you and you stared into a pair of red lights, one with a blue ring and one without. 

The two of you stayed like that for a while, just taking in each other's faces, until a voice from the hallway caught your attention.

"Yo dude, glitchy boy made it a huge deal about us not coming in here. Ya really shouldn't be goin through his stuff bruh."

Your ears twitched, head swiveling to look at the newcomer.

You caught a glimpse of bright colors before the skeleton holding you moved, pressing you up against their chest as they settled you into a more comfortable position.

You squeaked and tried to squirm out of the skele's grasp again, eventually giving in when you realized you weren't getting away any time soon. 

You huffed, burying your face in the soft cloth as you silently listened to their gibberish. 

"What the heck is that man?"

The skeleton holding you shifted lifting a hand to poke your cheek.

You flinched at the contact, lifting your face to look at the offending digit in disdain.

"I'm not sure. It's cute though."

Your vision was promptly obstructed by a splash of color, stark white bones standing out against the dark eye coverings and colorful letters.

This new skeleton looked like he had walked straight through a rainbow, the vomit of mismatched colors straining your eyes when you tried to take them all in.

"Bro! Where'd he find that? Er... Her? Whatever it is it's hella weird."

The colorful skeleton's voice raised in pitch causing you to wince, ears flattening and burying your face back into the darker skeleton's fabric.

The skeleton holding you stiffened for a moment before going lax again, raising a hand to stroke your head. 

"Looks like a girl, at least compared to other humans I've seen."

"Dust, there's no way that's a human. Like, she's got a tail! How rad is that?! Chica got some style if ya know what I'm saying!"

The skeleton holding you sighed, adjusting you in his hold before moving forward and shouldering past the other. 

You blinked, lifting your head from its shoulder to get a look around as the skeleton above you began to mumble.

" _No one_ knows what you're saying you 90's wanna-be."

The hallway you were going down was made of stone. Candle-shaped lights lined the top of the walls and gave the area a warm glow.

The rainbow donned skeleton bounced after you all too happily, chattering away at the larger skele.

You looked up at the skeleton carrying you to gauge his reaction to the smaller.

He... didn't seem particularly interested in what he had to say. 

You internally shrugged and decided to block out the skele as well. 

Not like you could tell what the two monsters were saying anyways.

Huh... You _really_ needed names for them.

You glanced up at the skeleton again, studying his face.

He wasn't very expressive from what you could tell. The entire time he'd been near you he'd had an almost bored or impassive look on his face. 

His lights flickered before they twitched down to you.

You held his gaze for a moment before averting your eyes, choosing to stare at his clothing instead.

The fabric was dark, the dull color the sky would get before the sun went down and painted pretty colors across the horizon, and it was covered in a fine powder.

You didn't need nor want to sniff the stuff, as you already knew what it was.

Dust.

You spent a moment wondering if he was just really dirty or if those were the remains of some monster.

You decided you didn't want to know.

In the end, you decided to call him "Stone", a reference to his cold, hard exterior.

And also because he smelt like the rest of this dirty building.

You squirmed in his hold until you were able to look over his shoulder, leaving him to adjust his arms to support you. 

Now that Stone had a name, the colorful skele needed one too. 

When he caught you looking, the skele beamed, waving at you enthusiastically. 

During the movement, his eye covering slipped down his head, giving you a glimpse of a bright shape in his eye before he pushed them up again. 

You blinked, tilting your head.

His grin widened as he copied the movement.

...You decided to call this skeleton Neon. 

That was a word that meant bright right? You'd heard a lot of the colors he was wearing referred to as such. 

You thought the name suited him just fine.

_'Neon. Stone. Neon and Stone. Stone and Neon!'_

You happily repeated the phrase in your mind, intent on engraving them to memory. 

Your little group continued down the hall, Neon still babbling away until something he said managed to get Stone to stop ignoring him and start conversing as well.

"Sooooo what's the plan dude?"

"What do you mean?"

Neon's grin sharpened and he leaned back on his heels. 

"Big man in charge ain't gonna like it too much when he realizes there's a newcomer in the castle. Glitchy boy even less so when he finds out you took the chica here for a walk 'round."

Stone's head tilted down, prompting you to look up at him. 

He blinked down at you before turning back to the other.

"Not my fault he did a _GRIT_ job of hiding her."

He froze.

" _FIT_ job."

Stone turned a steady glare onto Neon, who held his hands up.

"Stop censoring my words 90's trash."

Neon shrugged.

"Wouldn't haveta censor ya if you'd just chill out with the un-fresh lingo my dude." He shook his head, reaching up to tilt his eye coverings down with a frown. "Not cool bro."

You couldn't stop the small noise that came from your throat when you got to see Neon's lights.

Light purple smoke drifted from both sockets but what caught your attention the most was the monster-shaped SOUL in place of one of his dots. 

Neon's lights flickered as they turned to you, a nervous smile plastered on his face as he pushed the covers back up and looked away.

_'Oh hell nah, lemme see that again.'_

You let out a pitiful whine, drooping your ears and tail for added effect. 

Bingo.

Stone glanced down at you, trying to gain your attention back as Neon flinched, looking over his shoulder at you.

You kept this pose for a bit, resting your chin on Stone's shoulder as you stared at his more colorful counterpart. 

The bright skele seemed to be bewildered by your behavior, mouth pulling up into a small frown as he looked you over.

Now that you had his attention, you reached out towards him, making grabby hands at his face and silently praying he got the message.

Thankfully he seemed to get it, hesitating for a bit before taking off the dark coverings with a sigh.

You immediately perked up, cooing softly at the skele as you got to admire his eyes once again.

Like you had thought, his left eye held a monster SOUL while the other was a plain white dot. 

The SOUL was slightly cracked, a hairline fracture running down the center but otherwise unaffected by its strange placement.

You watched with intrigue as the inverted heart moved, spinning in a soft circle within its socket.

You chuffed, looking down and absent-mindedly rubbing your chest as you felt your own SOUL ripple in response. 

_'Huh... That's new...'_

Neon cleared his throat, cheeks softly glowing the color of the sky and pushing the covers back up, effectively ending your show.

"A-anyways, let's bounce Dusty boo. Big man won't wait forever!" 

With that the skele started chattering away again, bounding down the corridor a bit too happily in your opinion. 

You were so caught up in your thoughts that it took you a moment to realize you weren't moving.

You looked up at the skeleton, your confusion evident on your face.

Stone was peering down at you, seemingly pausing to think before he reached up to ruffle your hair.

You squeaked, squirming away from the attention as he cackled, finally walking off after his friend.

You grinned happily at the day's events. 

You liked it here already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fresh: *Being all insecure about his eyes*  
> Readz: Bish don't hide, you're beautiful.
> 
> Anyways- Incase anyone didn't catch on to who the skeles were:  
> Dust is "Stone"  
> Fresh is "Neon"
> 
> The reader is the only one who uses these nicknames since she hasn't been able to associate names with them yet.
> 
> I know I already said it, but this has gotten so much support for literally no reason. Thank you guys, gals, and non-binary pals for all the encouragement and excitement you've showed me!
> 
> I have no idea when the next chapter will come but I'll try to push one out for you ^^


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